


we keep this love in a photograph

by Larryswonderworld



Category: Larry Stylinson - Fandom, One Direction
Genre: Accidents, Celebrity Louis, Famous Louis, Love, M/M, Misunderstanding, Photographer Harry, Rich Louis, Singer Louis, Swearing, Violence, but not anyting major, larry - Freeform, larry stylinson - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2020-11-27 03:41:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20941703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Larryswonderworld/pseuds/Larryswonderworld
Summary: Harry Styles is a photographer who, due to money struggles, was forced to become a paparazzi. Louis Tomlinson is England's most famous singer-songwriter. One day Louis comes home after finishing up the first leg of his tour and finds Harry at his doorstep,  he becomes fed up and breaks Harry's camera. Harry is about to break down because he saved up for it for months. Louis starts to feel guilty and tries to do something to make the green eyed boy happy again.(This AU is written by me but @rosycurves on twitter came up with the idea so the credits go to her as well)





	1. chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hii! 
> 
> @rosycurves on twitter was the one who came up with the story, so credits go to her! 
> 
> If you want to follow me, my twitter is @louisflowerkiss :)

Your job doesn’t define you.

It’s something Harry had to tell himself every single day when he left for work. His job does _not_ define him. It’s something that he did for a living, so he could pay rent and buy groceries. Did he like his job? Most definitely not. Hunting down famous people to take pictures of them doing basically nothing wasn’t his idea of the perfect career. Spending his day with a camera in his hand was though, and as a photographer he didn’t really have a choice. He really tried to find work which allowed him to pay his bills _and_ involved photography, but he couldn’t find one. London was flooded with young, passionate and hopeful photographers like Harry, and they were all looking for jobs. After a few months of frantically trying to find work, he gave up and applied for a job as paparazzi. He spent his days roaming around in England’s capital, looking for famous people. He always tried to be respectful towards the celebrities, which was often appreciated. Still, he was a paparazzi, whose goal was to get pictures which were preferably as scandalous as possible. Most of the time, celebrities lived a private life and getting that one scandalous picture that his bosses desperately wanted proved to be difficult. Harry’s photos consisted mainly of celebrities walking down the street, and every now and then he shot a picture of a celebrity holding hands with a new lover, if he was lucky.

Today wasn’t one of those days. Harry was feeling really bored today, and all he wanted to do was play around with his new camera. He had saved up for months to be finally able to afford buying it and today was the first day he actually used it. It felt like a dream, finally being the owner of a somewhat high end camera. So far, he had borrowed a camera from his best friend and colleague Niall, who had been part of the business for a bit longer. When he was 18, Harry got his own camera for his birthday. It was an old model, but his family couldn’t afford to buy a better and newer one. Harry used the camera almost every day, until he became a paparazzi and had to work with a better quality camera. Still not being able to afford to buy one himself, Harry was glad that Niall offered him one of his. “You can use these, and in the meantime save up for your own,” Niall had said to him. It was pretty unusual for paparazzo to support each other, but Niall and Harry had been friends since college, and Niall refused to let Harry quit his job due to the fact that he didn’t have money for a better camera. After months of desperately saving up all his money, Harry was finally able to buy his own camera. And today was the first day he could actually put it to use. Luckily, it was a Friday, meaning that he had the day off tomorrow so he could finally focus on photographing things he actually enjoyed, instead of spending his day stalking celebrities. 

Harry sighed and tried to motivate himself. Just a couple of hours and he would be done for the day. He walked through the streets of Kensington, trying to resist the urge to stop and take some pictures of the old Victorian houses while they were surrounded by autumn trees. It was a well known fact that a lot of celebrities owned posh properties in Kensington, among them numerous models, reality stars, football players..

And Louis Tomlinson.

\---

When Louis woke up, it was dark outside. He had a stiff neck and his head was still pounding. “How long till we arrive?” he asked his driver with a raspy voice.

“Just a couple of minutes, sir. Ten, at most.”

Louis shut his eyes and tried to fight back a groan. He had a massive jetlag and above all, a nasty hangover. It had been months since he felt this miserable and all he wanted to do was fall face forward on his bed and just sleep for days. He missed the familiarity of home and the sense of safety and acceptance that it had. His house was a place where he could be himself, without anyone trying to tell him otherwise. The first halve of his tour had been really fun. The fans were amazing as always, shouting back the lyrics from his songs and the support had been really great. But Louis was so tired from traveling throughout the US, and he desperately wanted to go home. His friends, Liam and Zayn, had coaxed him into celebrating a successful first leg of the tour, and the drinks and lack of sleep started catching up on him.

He stared outside and watched the houses of Kensington pass him by, slowly but surely recognizing the buildings, and soon they arrived at his destination. A little breath of relief escaped his lips when the car came to a halt, and his driver opened the door for him.

“Thank you,” Louis said while he yawned. “I appreciate it.”

“No problem at all, sir,” his drive sat, tapping his hat. “Any time. Can I help you with anything, sir?”

“Nah, it’s okay. I’ll manage. Enjoy your weekend!” Louis said with a tired smile, fumbling in his bag to find his keys.

The driver thanked him, and slowly the car made its way out of the street. It was then, that Louis spotted him. Leaning against a wall, there was a guy with a camera pointed towards him.

“For fucks sake,” Louis groaned while he immediately turned around and quickly walked up the steps to his house, trying to escape from the paparazzi. It was too late. He heard footsteps behind him, and soon enough a voice: “Louis-“

Louis pressed his lips together and tried not to snap. “I don’t have time for this now,” he growled, while he desperately tried to find his keys.

“I only wanted-“

“You want what? A picture?” Louis turned around angrily, glaring at the young man in front of him. “I literally said that I don’t have time for your bullshit, okay? I’ve had a long fucking day and I want to sleep, alright?”

The man lifted his camera, and it was at that moment that Louis did what he was taught to never ever do. In a reflex he pushed away the camera, causing it to slip out of the man’s hand and fall down the stairs. The man gasped and immediately ran after it, carefully picked it up and inspected it. Louis noticed that his hands were shaking while he started fumbling with the buttons. Instant regret washed over Louis when he saw the distress and hurt in the man’s eyes.

“Shit, I didn’t mean to do that,” he stammered, trying to find an excuse. “I- fuck.”

“It’s okay,” the man said quietly, but Louis knew that he didn’t mean it by the way his eyes filled with tears.

-

Harry stared at his camera, his new camera. The one he had spent months saving up for. It was all gone. The lens was cracked, and so was the little screen. And to make it all worse, none of the buttons responded when Harry pushed on them. His hands shook a little when he put the camera in its case. He couldn’t really blame Louis for pushing the camera away from him, but Harry never intended to take a picture of the singer. The second Louis stepped out of the car, Harry knew that something was wrong and his gut told him not to take any pictures of the man.

“It’s not,” Louis frowned. “I shouldn’t have done that. You were only doing your job.”

Harry looked up at him, for the first time that night. “I wasn’t trying to take a picture of you. You dropped your keys and I wanted to give them to you. Here,” he showed the bundle of keys. “they’re yours.”

Louis stupidly grabbed the keys, while he looked at the seemingly younger man in front of him. “I’m such a dick,” he softly said. “Look, I’ll get you a new one, okay?”

“It’s fine,” the man’s green eyes shifted to the ground. He nervously pulled at a loose curl that was hanging in front of his face. “I shouldn’t have disrespected your privacy.”

“Isn’t that your job, though?” Louis huffed, but he immediately wanted to take back his words when he saw the way he flinched in response.

“I.. I gotta go,” the younger man stammered. “I’m really sorry if I bothered you. Have a good night.”

And before Louis could respond the green eyed paparazzi disappeared in the darkness of Kensington, leaving Louis with a feeling of confusion, but mostly the feeling of guilt.


	2. chapter 2

“He did what, exactly?” Niall bluntly asked, staring at his best friend.

“I don’t think he did it on purpose, though…” Harry said, tugging at the sleeve of his sweater. “I mean, it could have been an accident.”

“Yeah right,” Niall huffed. “What a dick. You weren’t even going to take a picture of him. You really shouldn’t be as calm about it as you’re being right now, Haz. That guy broke your camera!”

“I knooww,” Harry whined while he looked down at his lap. “It breaks my heart when I think about it. But there was something… I don’t know. There was something wrong with him.”

“Yeah, obviously.”

“I hate this job,” Harry said softly. “If I were a real photographer, this wouldn’t have even happened.”

“Haz, c’mon. Don’t think like that. Celebs need us as much as we need them. Besides, it pays quite well. Hey,” the Irish buy reached out to his best friend. “I’m really sorry for what happened to you. And I hope he’ll be able to make up for it.”

“Yeah,” Harry glanced at his cameracase, which was laying on the table in front of them. “Let’s not talk about it anymore.”

Niall looked at him for a moment, before nodding. “Okay. In the mean time you can use my camera, of course. Anyways. I got a text saying that there’ll be a party at the Funky Buddha next week, so I’ll be there. I was thinking, maybe afterwards we can go for a drink?”

“Sure,” Harry smiled. “Sounds like fun. Who’s hosting the party?”

“Liam Payne, I think. It’s supposed to be a private event, but his manager called me in again to take a few pictures of them when they get in. I heard he’ll be the face of Hugo Boss or something, so I guess his team wants some pre-publicity,” Niall shrugged. “I guess I’ve kinda become their pr-stunt photographer.”

Harry groaned, “I wish I had something like that. It feels way better when you know someone actually wants you to take their pictures.” He was silent for a moment, and stared outside. It was a rainy day in London, and he was glad that he didn’t have to go outside today. Maybe he could start editing the pictures of Gemma he took a while back, hopefully it could take his mind of the loss of his new camera. 

-

It took almost a full week for Louis to finally feel well-rested. He felt like the touring had drained all of his energy, but being home and being alone for a while really helped him. His tour-life was insanely hectic, with people barging into his room and demanding, asking, wanting things from him. It was a constant rush and most of the time Louis loved it. But nevertheless, being home felt good. 

The morning after the camera incident, Louis went online to see if he could find the boy. There was no sign of him though, and it proved to be difficult to find someone whose name you don’t even know. That didn’t mean that he just stopped thinking about the incident. The sad, green eyes were printed in Louis mind and he couldn’t shake the feeling of regret and guilt. Something about the young man made Louis want to get him a new camera, and a part of him wanted get to know the curly haired man. 

He took one final look in the mirror and then looked at his watch. Zayn should be here soon to pick him up for the party Liam would throw tonight to celebrate the fact that he would be the new face of Hugo Boss, which was a huge accomplishment. 

Since he came home, Louis hadn’t partied and he realized he was actually ready to go out and show his face to the public again.

His phone buzzed, an indication that Zayn had messaged him. 

\- I’m outside!!! 

Quickly, Louis grabbed his wallet and keys, and left his apartment. It was already dark outside and besides Zayn’s sleek black car, the street was empty. Zayn’s driver opened the door for Louis, and after shooting a quick ‘thank you’, Louis stepped into the warmth. 

“Jesus fuck it’s cold,” he said while hugging his friend briefly. “I’m not sure if I’m ready for summer to be over.”

“Tell me about it,” Zayn grinned. “It’s good to see you again, man.”

“It’s been a week,” Louis laughed. “But me too, I miss you guys. How’s Liam doin’?”

His friend smiled fondly. “Nervous as fuck. He’s been texting me non-stop, but I’m sure he’ll smash it.”

“Definitely!”

“He wanted to warn you beforehand that there will be press outside. Just that one guy, the blonde one.”

“Oh I like him, should be okay.”

The rest of the ride continued like this, small banter between two friends while the car drove quietly through England’s busy capital. Zayn and Louis had been friends for a long time. They started their careers at the same time and although they were part of a different industry, they immediately clicked. While Zayn was artsy, sultry and looked like he was the son of some Greek God, Louis was spontaneous, funny and out-going. Despite their difference, they became really good friends from the moment they met. Their worlds were both filled with famous people, flashing lights, hotel rooms, cameras, noise and nights spend alone and among all the busy schedules and chaos, they found comfort, support and friendship in each other. Liam came along a couple of months later, when Zayn met him at a modelling event and brought him along with him to hang out with Louis. Soon enough, the three of them got really close, hanging out at their flats and going out every now and then.  
After an hour, the car smoothly came to a halt in front of a club. The club was highly exclusive, and entrance was only allowed to those with an invitation. The door of the car was opened, and Louis and Zayn stepped out of the black vehicle. Immediately, they were recognized by people and soon enough they were surrounded by fans, each of them wanting to get that one second of contact with them. Hands were grabbing Louis, tugging at his shirt, asking, wanting, needing. He felt a bit of panic bubbling up inside of him, but he forced himself to keep smiling while he was led to the entrance by one of his bodyguards. In the blur of hands, faces, eyes, Louis saw the white flashes of a camera, pointed directly towards him and Zayn. He tried not to squint to much while he looked in the direction of the flashes.

“C’mon lets get inside,” Zayn, who was not even a meter behind him, said. “It’s crazy here.”

“Louis! Louis! How is Eleanor doing?” someone asked him, while another girl tried to grab his hand. Louis jerked away, ignoring the questions while his bodyguards pushed against the mob. 

“Zayn! Louis!” the blonde man behind the camera yelled. “Are you excited for the Hugo Boss launch?”

Louis looked at him and then froze. Because behind the camera, a pair of familiar green eyes was looking at him. But before he could ask or say anything to the green eyed boy, he was pulled away, into the club.


	3. chapter three

Harry quickly looked away from the blue eyes, hoping Louis’ hadn’t recognized him. Something in him feared that he would confront him about that night last week, about him invading his privacy. A part of him knew that he wouldn’t do this, as there were too many people around him and such a confrontation could influence his reputation negatively. Harry had seen some interviews of Louis, and he didn’t seem like an aggressive kind of guy. He hadn’t heard anything negative about him from his colleagues either, which was quite impressive as most celebrities had at least a couple of confrontations between them and the paparazzi. Harry couldn’t blame them: he knew too many paparazzi who would keep crossing lines in order to get that one million dollar picture. Stories of people sitting in bushes outside a celebrities home or furiously stalking them on the internet… It really wasn’t something Harry would ever be able to do. He respected people way too much to behave like that.

  
Niall kept taking pictures of the arriving guests and after a while Harry walked away from the crowd to lean against a brick wall in a quiet part of the street. Cars drove past him and each time a door opened there was a wave of screaming and yelling, flashing lights and the sound of shuttering camera’s. The lights of the neon signs circled around the crowd like an aura of fame and fortune, and Harry grabbed his small camera that he always had with him to capture the moment. His passion and focus made him deaf and blind to the rest of the world, causing the footsteps behind him to go unnoticed.

-

The second Louis had found his friend and had congratulated him, Louis made his way outside through the secret back door. The cool air hit his face, while the blasting music was numbed by the thick doors. He blinked at the sudden darkness of the night, and then realized there was a man standing at the end of the alley. He mentally cursed when he saw the camera and wanted to turn around, when he recognized the curls. He squinted to take a better look at him.

  
Louis slowly made his way towards him, careful not to disrupt him. Something about the man made Louis want to stop and stare. The way he bit his lips while checking his photos, the way he fumbled with the camera in order to get the right settings… It was captivating. It was clear that he wasn’t photographing arriving celebrities. The way he took his time to capture the moment was too slow, to delicate. Louis felt like a creep, and after a few minutes of observing the photographer, he started slowly walking towards him. He coughed, hoping to get his attention. At first it didn’t work, but after a few times the boy raised his head. His eyes widened. “Jesus Christ-“ he cursed, obviously taken off guard by the sudden approach.

  
Louis was quick to apologize. “Shit, I’m sorry! Didn’t mean to scare you!”

  
The boy coughed to mask his emotion. “It’s okay. I didn’t hear you, I was..” he sheepishly raised the small, compact camera.

  
“I can see,” Louis smiled.

  
There was a moment of silence, in which they both just stared at each other, before Louis scraped his throat. “I wanted to apologize for my behaviour last week. I was a dick. And I had no reason to be.”

  
The boy pressed his lips together. “It’s okay.”

  
“You see, it really isn’t. Especially the, uh, the camera thing. I want to make it up for you.”

  
“You really don’t have to do that,” the boy answered politely.

“What’s your name?” Louis asked.

  
“’m Harry,” Harry said, while pushing away the hair from his face. Louis tried not to gasp when he noticed how utterly gorgeous Harry was. He remembered that the boy was, well, not ugly but he couldn’t remember that Harry was this.. stunning.

  
“Harry,” Louis said and smiled. “Like Harold?”

  
Harry laughed and brushed a curl out of his face. “No, like Harry.”

  
“Want to grab a drink somewhere? I know a place where we could like, chat for a sec?” Louis said, his heart beating in his chest. Why was he this nervous?  
“I- sure,” Harry said. “Only if you want to, though. I don’t want to keep you from your party.”

  
Louis smiled. “It’s okay, Liam probably won’t mind.”

Harry’s heart was beating in his chest. Louis Tomlinson was standing right there in front of him, asking him for a drink. And all Harry could do was stare and stutter. He really had to get his shit together. The walk was short, just a few streets away, and luckily Louis was a good small talker. Usually, Harry was one as well but somehow this man made him forget all his words.

  
“You’re not working tonight?” Louis asked nonchalantly while the two made their way through the streets of London.

  
“I’m not,” Harry answered. “Liam’s manager asked my friend Niall to be here tonight, and we actually were planning to go for a drink after he’s done.”

  
“Oh shit, I’m not keeping you from your plans right?” Louis looked up at Harry.

  
“It’s okay, he won’t be done for a while. And I’ve texted him that I’m with you.”

  
“You know him well?” Louis asked.

  
“He’s my best friends. We went to college together, both wanting to become photographers and um, ended up with the same job. Not one we wanted, obviously, but still. It’s nice to have a genuine friend out there in this business.”

  
“Yeah? It’s that rough of a job?”

  
Harry shrugged, “it can be. A lot of jealousy, and a lot of like, stereotypical paps. I hope to be able to leave it soon. For now it’s okay as it pays my bills and still lets me be with my camera, but I can’t imagine doing this for the rest of my life.”

  
“So why did you become a pap, then Harold?” Louis seemed to be genuinely interested and Harry wondered why. Surely, he wasn’t that interesting. Right?

  
“’cause not everyone gets the job they want,” Harry said sadly.

  
“You wanted to be a photographer, then?”

  
“Yep. Preferably portrait photographer, and special occasions. It’s my passion. I still do that every now and then, but I’m not able to pay my bills with it.”  
He felt Louis looking at him from the side and he felt a blush creeping up.

  
Suddenly, Louis halted in front of a small, brick house in the middle of a quiet street. “This is the café,” he said with a small smile.

  
Harry tried to take a look through the window. “I never knew there was a café here..”

  
“It’s nice. It’s a small pub that not a lot of people know. And the ones who do usually give me privacy, which is one of the main reasons I love to go here,” he smiled. “I know the owner. Lets go, I’m freezing my ass off here.”

  
Harry tried to supress a smile while he walked through the door that Louis held open for him. He was greeted by warmth and the typical smell of pubs: beer and food. There were, like Louis said, not a lot of people and the ones who were there were of middle age, drinking a pint and just talking to each other. Louis led him to a quiet table in the corner and went to the bar to order them some drinks. Harry quickly checked his phone to see if Niall had send a reply yet, which he did:

  
\- louis? the one from the camera? let me know if he starts bothering u!!!

Harry smiled and replied

  
\- He actually seems really nice, and apologized multiple times, don’t worry :) I’ll text you when we’re done so we can go out

  
\- Okay have fun!! don’t worry bout me haz , enjoy your night w/ louis. we can go another time if u want

  
“There you go,” Louis set down the beers on the table and took a seat in the booth in front of him.

  
“Thanks,” Harry smiled and took a sip.

  
“So, Harry,” the singer said. “Tell me more about yourself! What do you like to do besides photography?”

  
Harry’s cheeks heated up at the genuine interest. “uhm, reading? And cooking. I love baking and cooking and stuff. Also, I want to get a cat but Niall doesn’t want us to.”

  
“So you live together with him?”

  
“Yep,” Harry smiled. “He’s a bit of a messy roommate but he’s the best I could wish for. Love him to death. I really don’t know what I would have done without him. Probably still would have been stuck finding a job somewhere.” He traces the rim of his glass with his finger.

  
“He introduced you to the pap life, then?”

  
“Yeah. Let me borrow a camera and all that. Mine wasn’t really good, until I bought my, uh, new one,” Harry averted his eyes to the wooden table in front of them to avoid Louis’ blue eyes.

“The one I broke?” Louis said ashamed.

  
“Yeah,” Harry said softly. “But-“

  
“Please don’t say it’s okay. ‘Cause it isn’t. Look, I’ve already said it but I promise I’ll buy you a new one. It really was a shitty thing for me to do, and I hope that you know I’m sorry. ‘Cos I really am. I was so relieved to see you here tonight, because I really wanted to tell you in person,” Louis rambled. “I usually don’t react that way, and I wanted you to know that.”

  
Their eyes met and Harry could see the sincerity in his blue eyes.

  
“I believe you, Lou,” Harry said, the nickname slipping of his lips before he could think about it. “I-“ he hesitated. “I want you to know that I don’t like this job and I won’t ever, ever take a picture of someone while they’re in distress. I wasn’t planning to with you, I swear.” His gaze was intense, green eyes piercing blue ones.

  
Louis licked his lips before looking down at his now-empty glass. “Thank you. Honestly, that means a lot.”

  
“So, enough about me. Let’s talk about you.” He took a sip of his beer.

  
“What, boring old me? What’s there to talk about.”

  
“Oh come on,” Harry laughed. “You’ve been asking me at least a hundred questions about my life.”

  
“Which is clearly a hyperbole.”

  
“Is it?” Harry joked and leaned over the table to whisper: “For a celeb you know surprisingly little about paps.”

  
Louis tried to suppress a smile. This man in front of him made him want to spill all his secrets, made him want to spend all night with him. So they did. They drank pint after pint, joking with each other, talking about family and their favourite food and countries they wanted to visit. They talked about the dreams they dreamed, their favourite music and Harry’s cat (Louis made Harry promise to show him the cat sometime, which made Harry’s heart beat a little faster because Louis actually wanted to spend more time with him?). Harry noticed that Louis eyes crinkled when he laughed, and Louis found out that Harry was a blusher.

  
Around three in the morning, when their eyes started to water due to tiredness and the waitress softly told them that the bar was closing up, they realised they had to go home, each their own way again.

  
“So,” Louis said when they stood outside, in the dark, chilly night, both waiting for a taxi. He hugged himself, trying to keep himself warm. “Thank you for tonight.”

  
“No, thank you. I had a great time,” Harry smiled.

  
“Would you mind if I got your number? So we could do this again?”

  
“No, of course I wont mind!” Harry rushed to say, taking Louis’ phone and typing in his phone number.

  
Louis taxi arrived, his chauffeur stepping out of the car to open his door.

  
“So. I guess this is it.” He said.

  
“Yeah,” was all Harry could say.

  
“I’ll text you,” Louis promised. He looked at Harry and for a second the taller boy wondered if Louis would hug him. He didn’t, though. He just smiled and stepped in the car while giving a small wave. Harry watched the car as it slowly drove away, until he rounded the corner and was out of sight.

  
Harry breathed in the fresh night air and looked up at the stars, wondering if this night really happened and if, maybe, faith had some plans for them in store.


	4. chapter 4

Surprisingly, Louis actually called him. It took him almost a day. Nineteen hours, to be precise. Harry tried not to count the minutes and he ordered himself not to check his phone every damn second (which was practically impossible). Instead, he scrolled through Louis instagram feed. He had a nice feed, some personal stuff and some promo’s. Harry accidently liked a picture of Louis from march 2019, which almost made him throw himself out of the window out of embarrassment until he realised that, in fact, Louis had 14 million followers and probably wouldn’t even recognize his single like. Still, he decided (after he researched Louis’ “happy 2017” post) that he had to stop stalking Louis and should do something productive. Like checking if Louis had maybe left a message. He didn’t, though. Harry sighed and stood up. Louis probably wasn’t going to call anyways, he told himself. Why would he?

  
Louis called him at exactly 10 p.m. He had an early morning, the bags under his eyes were clearly visible. But so was his smile, if he should believe his sister. Lottie facetimed him during his lunch, after he spend his morning recording a “happy new year” video for a certain radio station. As soon as he picked up and they said their hi’s and how are you’s, she moved her face closer to the screen, furrowing her brows as if she was inspecting him.

  
“What?” Louis asked.

  
“You tell me.”

“No, seriously, why’re you acting like a creep.”

“Why are you smiling like that?” Lottie asked him suspicious.

“Like what?” Louis sipped his Yorkshire tea that his assistant got him.

“Like… Like you’ve met someone!”

“I meet a lot of people, Lot,” Louis laughed. “You gotta be specific.”

“You know what I mean, you dick. Who did you meet last night? Did you hook up with someone?”

“No, what do you think of me?” Louis gasped, faking like he was offended at just the thought of him doing such a thing.

“Okay, fine. Keep your secrets.” Lottie pointed her finger at him in front of the camera. “But call them. If they make you this happy.”

And Louis planned to. But somehow, his busy schedule didn’t let him. Louis could easily send Harry a text, but something inside him told him to call him. Harry was too special for a simple text. Last night made Louis feel normal again. Like he was just Louis, instead of Louis Tomlinson the Singer. Like instead of a shiny new toy that could be thrown away, he was.. a person. And he really liked that feeling.

The night literally flew by, Louis remembered checking his watch and realizing how late it was. It had been a while since Louis had such an honest, relaxed conversation with someone. Let alone someone this handsome, this charming. Harry’s curls had looked like a halo around his head, his eyes sparkling with joy and his lips.. God, if Louis could he’d kiss him right there, in the dim lit café.

And although Harry told him not to, it made Louis feel even guiltier about the confrontation they had the first time they met. So naturally, Louis came up with a plan. He needed someone to shoot his new promotion pictures, so why not ask Harry? Louis had stalked his Instagram a little during one of his breaks, and honestly, he really liked what he saw. It made him wonder why the hell Harry wasn’t able to make a living out of photographing people’s portraits because all his pictures looked absolutely stunning. He’d emailed his manager about the matter, sending him some pictures but leaving out their small history. “Besides the fact that I’d love to give him a chance to show his work to a bigger public, I also feel like his aesthetic would do really well for that new shoot we talked about earlier. As Jordan is unavailable for a while, I’d love for Harry to fill him in. I’ll contact Jordan about this, but I’m sure he’ll approve.”

A couple of minutes before 10, Louis sat with his phone in his hand, staring at Harry’s number. He could easily call, but what if Harry didn’t pick up? A part of him told him not to worry because why else would Harry give him his number?, but another, insecure part of him made him hesitate a little while. Then he remembered Lottie’s words: “if they make you this happy, call them.”

So, naturally, Louis called Harry.

The sound of his ringtone made Harry jump from his kitchen chair, running to grab his phone. “Hello?” he answered, slightly out of breath.

“Hi,” he heard Louis’ soft voice. “Is this, uhm, Harry?”

“Yeah,” Harry answered, grinning dumbly. “Sorry. But it’s me. Hi.”

“Hi. It’s Louis, by the way,” he added. “I’m sorry it took me a while to call, I’ve had a bit of a busy day.”  
Harry sat down on the couch, his legs crossed. “It’s okay,” he smiled. “What did you do today? Work?”

“Yeah, just some catching up on some emails and promo stuff. Called my sister.”

Harry, remembering Louis told him about his sisters and little brother the night before, asked: “which one?”

“Lottie.”

“Ah, the make up artist. Right?”

It was silent for a while, but before Harry had the time to overthink his words, Louis softly said: “I didn’t think you’d remember that.”

“C’mon Lou, sisters are important to me. Its hard to forget about sisters, especially when I have Gem as one,” he snorted. “But tell me about your day.”

“Well, actually, I was going to ask you something,” Louis said carefully. “But feel free to say no, okay?”

Harry’s heart started to beat a little faster. “Yeah, sure. What is it?”

“So, I was thinking. You’re a photographer. I need one for my upcoming promo and I came across your stuff and I was wondering if… And you can definitely say no, but like, if maybe you’d like to shoot my new promo stuff?”

Harry blinked.

“For my new single and stuff, which isn’t announced yet so please don’t tell anyone.”

Harry opened his mouth, his breath and the humming of the television being the only sound in the room.

“Obviously you’d be paid to do it,” Louis added when Harry didn’t respond. “Like a proper salary. If you want the job, that is.”

“Louis, I..” Harry stumbled. “I..”

“I mean, if you don’t want to do it that fine as well! You don’t have to feel obligated or anything. It’s just that I really like your previous work and I feel like it would really work for Walls and so, yeah. Say something, before I keep rambling.”

“I’d love to.” Harry said. “Really. I can’t believe this. You’d really give me a chance like that?”

“Yeah, of course,” Louis smiled through the phone. “You’re really talented. I emailed my manager and usual photographer today and they agreed with me.”

“I really don’t have words for this,” Harry said, still in shock. “This is a big opportunity, you know that right?”

“So you’ll do it?”

“I think only a fool would say no,” Harry said, laughing. “Have I said thank you yet? Because, like, thank you. For the chance. And believing in me and like. Everything.”

“I wouldn’t ask you if I didn’t see your talent,” Louis smiled. “That being said, would you like to come by later this week to discuss this a bit further? I’d love to do this face to face instead of via the phone.”

“Yeah, definitely. Whenever you want,” Harry said.

“How does Thursday sound? Afternoon?”

“Sounds good!”

“Okay, great. I’ll send you my address. So. Tell me about your day.”

**Author's Note:**

> hiiii! Please don't forget to leave a kudo or even a comment. It would make my day :))


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